White Hat Management nears ONE BILLION DOLLARS in charter school funding in Ohio

Congratulations are in order to Kasich pal David Brennan and his White Hat Management company for being awarded two more charter schools by the Ohio Department of Education despite the worst list of accomplishments we may have ever seen. And with these additional schools, it is likely that White Hat schools will top $1 billion in revenue in Ohio.

And, of course, our deepest condolences to idealistic charter school entities like the Fordham Foundation who can’t keep David Brennan and his negative actions and failing schools out of the forefront of the media. In fact, it’s more likely to be Brennan and his White Hat Management Company that ultimately kill the Ohio charter school movement than it is Democratic politicians. Brennan is the poster child for charter schools in Ohio and until Fordham can force laws that will close White Hat schools permanently, White Hat Management and Ohio Charter Schools will remain synonymous in the minds of Ohioans.

Sadly, it doesn’t appear to be happening anytime soon as this week the Ohio Department of Education approved White Hat’s requests to sponsor two new charter schools. StateImpact’s Molly Bloom wrote a nice summary of the situation yesterday that includes a variety of links that I recommend, including White Hat’s applications for the new buildings.

The applications don’t provide enough information about the applicant, though, so we thought we’d provide a more comprehensive list of White Hat’s educational accomplishments in Ohio. This might help you understand WHY the requests for two new schools were granted (if you’re completely stoned, don’t read English, or are engaging in a fun game my son likes to call “backwards day”).

White Hat Management Company

School Revenues in Ohio since 1999: $818,919,080.00

Enrollment: Peaked at 13,683 statewide in 2004-2005; 25% decline in past five years

Total schools: 30 (minus 4 that were closed for academic reasons or contractual non-compliance)

Current Building Grades

Alternative Education Academy (aka OHDELA) Digital

D: Academic Watch (same as previous year)

School Improvement Year 7

Hope Academy Brown Street

C: Continuous Improvement (dropped one level from previous year)

No school improvement designation

Hope Academy Cathedral CampusCLOSED 2011

F: Academic Emergency

School Improvement Year 2

Hope Academy Chapelside Campus

C: Continuous Improvement (increased one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 5

Hope Academy East Campus

D: Academic Watch (dropped one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 5

Hope Academy Lincoln Park Campus

D: Academic Watch (dropped two levels from previous year)

School Improvement Year 5

Hope Academy North Coast Campus

D: Academic Watch (dropped one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 5

Hope Academy Northwest Campus

C: Continuous Improvement (increased one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 6

Hope Academy University Campus

D: Academic Watch (same)

School Improvement Year 2

Hope Academy West Campus (AKA) Hope Academy, Cuyahoga Campus

D: Academic Watch (same)

School Improvement Year 5

Life Skills Center of Akron

D: Academic Watch (dropped one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 6

Life Skills Center of Cincinnati

F: Academic Emergency (dropped one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 6

Life Skills Center of Cleveland

F: Academic Emergency (dropped one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 6

Life Skills Center of Columbus North

C: Continuous Improvement (increased two levels from previous year)

School Improvement Year 4

Life Skills Center of Columbus Southeast

C: Continuous Improvement (same)

School Improvement Year 5

Life Skills Center of Dayton

F: Academic Emergency (same)

School Improvement Year 5

Life Skills Center of Elyria (aka Greater Cleveland)

D: Academic Watch (increased one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 7

Life Skills Center of Hamilton County

C: Continuous Improvement (same)

School Improvement Year 6

Life Skills Center of Lake Erie

C: Continuous Improvement (increased one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 6

Life Skills Center of Middletown (Butler County)

C: Continuous Improvement (increased two levels from previous year)

School Improvement Year 6

Life Skills Center of North Akron

F: Academic Emergency (dropped one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 4

Life Skills Center of Northeast Ohio

F: Academic Emergency (dropped one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 6

Life Skills Center of Springfield (aka Clark Co.)

F: Academic Emergency (same)

School Improvement Year 6

Life Skills Center of Summit County

C: Continuous Improvement (same)

School Improvement Year 6

Life Skills Center of Toledo

D: Academic Watch (same)

School Improvement Year 6

Life Skills Center of Trumbull County

D: Academic Watch (dropped one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 6

Life Skills Center of Youngstown

D: Academic Watch (dropped one level from previous year)

School Improvement Year 6

Final grade summary:

9 Cs

11 Ds

7 Fs

Final GPA: 1.07

Note: The Life Skills schools are still in operation solely because every single one has received a waiver from the state for Dropout Recovery schools that “prevents a school’s closure due to poor academic performance.”

Who wouldn’t want to turn over a few hundred MORE children to a company with such an impressive track record after more than a decade in the business?

And since we’re already forking over $80 million per year to this company, what’s another $6 million among Kasich’s friends? And maybe, JUST maybe, we’ll get a look at White Hat’s finances right around the time they hit that magic $1 billion mark.

Even though this is public knowledge it really isn’t.
DO you THINK for one minute the majority of the people in our state knew these statistics they would continue to support or feel the same about charter schools? No they wouldn’t. But the media especially the local media where these schools abound do not believe in reporting important issues like these. We should make this one of our number one priorities.

http://rationalmathed.blogspot.com Michael Paul Goldenberg

If there are worse charters than those run by White Hat, I’ve not seen them (though I’m sure they exist in areas I’ve not worked). I had a very close, very unpleasant encounter with the WHM style of things in Michigan in 2008. I wouldn’t piss in David Brennan’s mouth if his tongue were on fire.